Sterilizing machines

ABSTRACT

A sterilizing machine in which the carriers for the sticks of cans have a number of equiangularly spaced pockets in a beam which is relatively rotatable with an external shell having an axial inlet and outlet slot. Locking means are provided at one end of the carrier to prevent such relative rotation and an orientating means is provided at the other end of the carrier. The carrier is also provided with a toothed wheel which engages an agitating chain and an indexing means which is associated with a releasing means for the lock between the beam and shell. Cam and guide mechanism is provided for orientating the carrier if necessary to present the axial slot to discharging and loading stations.

4 F United States atet [151 3,643,787 Woof et al. 1 Feb. 22, 1972 [54]STERILIZING MACHINES UNITED STATES PATENTS [72] Inventors William Woof,Harwood; Colin Barlow, 3,469,67l 9/ 1969 Mencacci 198/25 Radcliffe;Arthur Gray, Sharples; Richard Wigram, Radcliffe, all of England PrimaryExaminer-Edward A. Sroka At -H l & St [73] Assignee: Mather & PlattLimited, Mancheser, Lanarmy 0 man em cashire, England 57 ABSTRACT Filed:1970 A sterilizing machine in which the carriers for the sticks of [2]Appl No; 12,154 cans have a number of equiangularly spaced pockets in abeam which is relatively rotatable with an external shell having anaxial inlet and outlet slot. Locking means are provided [30] ForeignApplication Priority Data at one end of the carrier to prevent suchrelative rotation and an orientating means is provided at the other endof the carri- 5T i g t g it i 181/69 er. The carrier is also providedwith a toothed wheel which enay tea n am gages an agitating chain and anindexing means which is associated with a releasing means for the lockbetween the beam [52] US. Cl ..198/l31, 198/140 and She Cam and guidemechanism is provided for oriemzm [5 1] "B65g 17/12 ing the carrier ifnecessary to present the axial slot to discharg- [58] Field of Search..l98/25, 131, 140 ing and loading Stations References Cited 5 Claims, 11 Drawing Figures PAIENIEDFE 22 I972 SHEET 2 0F 7 STERILIZING MACHINESThis invention relates to sterilizing or cooking apparatus in whichsubstances to be sterilized or cooked are contained in cans or otherconvenient containers, and in which sticks of cans (i.e., rows ofcanswith the cans of each row in end-to-end disposition) are passed incontinuous fashion in turn for processing through a first water leg, asteam leg, a second water leg, and a spray-cooling leg. The sticks ofcans are supported by carriers mounted between two endless driven chainsand are presented to loading and unloading stations to receive anddischarge sticks of cans.

With some substances, for example, milk or a mixture of milk and rice,it is desirable to rotate the carriers on their passage through theapparatus to agitate the contents of the cans. Various means foreffecting such rotation and agitation have been proposed and the presentinvention is especially but not exclusively concerned with such means.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a carrier whichsafely holds sticks of cans during processing but which is easy to loadand unload.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an efficientmeans for effecting carrier rotation and can agitation.

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide means toensure that each carrier is correctly orientated for presentation to theloading and unloading stations.

According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided in orfor a sterilizing apparatus a carrier for supporting and conveyingsticks of cans through the sterilizing apparatus, the carrier comprisinga beam adapted to accommodate a plurality of angularly spaced cansticks, and a shell surrounding the beam save for an axial slot whichserves as inlet and outlet for the can sticks, the beam and shell beingrelatively rotatable between a position in which the can sticks cannotenter or leave the beam accommodation and a position in which can stickscan be loaded or discharged into or out of the beam accommodation.

Different sizes of cans may be loaded into the apparatus provided thateach can stick contains only one can size.

According to another aspect of the present invention there is providedin or for a sterilizing apparatus, a conveying mechanism comprising aseries of carriers in accordance with said one aspect of the inventionsupported between a pair of endless conveying chains, r'eleasablelocking means between each carrier shell and its interior beam, andreleasing and indexing means for acting on said locking means atpredetermined locations in the apparatus to permit relative rotationbetween each carrier shell and its beam to effect unloading, loading andclosure of the carrier.

According to yet another aspect of the present invention there isprovided in or for a sterilizing apparatus, a conveying and agitatingmechanism comprising a series of carriers preferably but not essentiallyin accordance with said one aspect of the present invention supportedbetween a pair of endless conveying chains with each carrier having atan end thereof a toothed wheel, movable agitating chain or similar meansengageable by the carrier toothed wheels for effecting rotation of thecarriers relative to the conveying chains for part of the carrier paththrough the apparatus.

Preferably, means is provided for holding the shell of each carrierstationary relative to the conveying chains at loading and dischargingstations and rotating its beam stepwise to effect charging ordischarging of can sticks.

According to still another aspect of the present invention there isprovided in or for a sterilizing apparatus, a means for correctlyorientating a carrier for can sticks relative to loading and unloadingstations to ensure easy loading and unloading, the orientating meanscomprising a guide track on a stationary part of the apparatus, astationary abutment adjacent to and external of the track, a follower onan end of the carrier for passage along the track in a selected positionon the carrier when the latter is correctly orientated, and an abutmentof said carrier end at a position angularly spaced from the follower andadapted to contact the stationary abutment if the carrier is incorrectlyorientated relative to the loading and unloading stations to rotate thecarrier through the intermediary ofa cam surface of the track to acorrect orientation.

An embodiment of the present invention will now be described, by way ofexample, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic view ofa sterilizing machine in accordance withthe present invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged end view of the loading and unloading stations ofthe machine;

FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic view of a carrier in accordance with theinvention;

FIG. 4 is a section on the line IVIV of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a detail view ofone end of the carrier;

FIG. 6 is a front view of the toothed wheel shown in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a detail view of the other end of the carrier;

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary perspective view of the carrier orientatingmeans;

FIGS. 9 and 10 are respectively diagrammatic views of a carriercorrectly orientated and a carrier being correctly orientated; and,

FIG. 11 is a fragmentary perspective view of the carrier releasing andindexing means.

The continuous sterilizing machine comprises, in sequence and closedcircuit within a housing 20, can stick loading and discharging stations21, a first water leg 22, a steam leg 23, a second water leg 24, avertical spray-cooling leg 25, and a horizontal conveying leg 26 betweenthe spray-cooling leg 25 and the stations 21.

An endless conveying mechanism 27 passes through the above-describedcircuit. This conveying mechanism 27 comprises a pair of endless chains28 supporting between them carriers 29 for sticks of cans. At theloading and discharging stations 21 there are conveyors 30 and 31respectively for delivering can sticks into the carriers 29 andreceiving can sticks out of the carriers 29. These conveyors 30, 31 maybe of any convenient construction, and there are preferably four loadingstations and four discharging stations. The number of loading anddischarging stations can be varied, the number being dependent on thenumber of can sticks supported in each carrier 29, but there arepreferably never less than two loading and two discharging stations.

Each carrier 29 in accordance with the present invention comprises abeam 33 with a substantially X-shaped cross section and surrounded by ashell or casing 34 save for an axial slot 35, (ref. FIG. 8), whichserves both as inlet and outlet. The X-beam 33 provides four angularlyspaced can sticks accommodating spaces or pockets 36 and the shell slot35 has an angular dimension suitable for passage radially of a stick ofcans.

The X-beam 33 is, for example, formed of four X- or Y- shaped extrusions37 welded to each other as indicated at 38 and the welded extrusionassembly is welded to square or rectangular bars 39 fast on end shafts40. The ends of the beam 33 are closed by plates 41 welded in positionand through which the shafts 40 freely extend. Each pocket 36 isasymmetrical as can clearly be seen in FIG. 4 with one side of a smallerradius than the other. Thus, in viewing FIG. 4, it will clearly be seenthat the pocket 36 at the right-hand side of the Figure facilitatesrolling out of a stick of cans on to a discharging conveyor 31, whilethe pocket at the left-hand side of the Figure provides a more positivereception location for a stick of cans being introduced into the pocketsfrom a loading conveyor 30. The carriers 29 are presented to the loadingand discharging stations so as to benefit from this asymmetric shape ofthe pockets or spaces 36.

The shell 34 is perforated as generally indicated at 42 for passage ofsteam and water and while it is substantially circular in cross sectionit is cut chordally to provide the slot 35. The shell 34 and beam 33 arerelatively rotatable as hereinafter described and the shell 34 can bedisposed relative to the limbs of the X-beam 33 such that passage of astick of cans is prevented (see FIG. 8).

Each spindle 40 engages in a bearing 43 rigid with its adjacent chain28.

Each carrier 29 has keyed to the spindle 40 at one end a wheel 44 formedon its periphery with plurality of, say sixteen angularly spaced teeth45.

On one face of the toothed wheel 44, namely the carrier-adjacent face,there are provided a plurality of, say eight equiangularly spaced pegs46. A pawl lever 47 is pivoted on a projection 48 on the adjacent endplate 41 and is formed with a slot 49 for engaging on any one of thepegs 46 and a tail 50 for a purpose hereinafter described. The pawllever 47 is normally urged by a spring 51 into engagement with a peg 46.Thus, it will clearly be seen that with the pawl lever 47 engaged on apeg 46 the beam 33 and shell 34 can rotate as a unit in the bearings 43.However, with the pawl lever 47 disengaged from the pegs 46, the beam 33and shell 34 can rotate relative to one another. It will be seen laterthat the shell 34 is held stationary and the beam 33 rotated relative tothe shell 34. The beam 33 can rotate only stepwise forwards.

It may be desired to duplicate this toothed wheel, peg and pawl leverarrangement at the other end of the carrier but this is not considerednecessary.

The other end plate 41 of each carrier 29 mounts a follower roller 52and a fixed T-shaped projection or abutment 53 on its face adjacent itschain 28.

The above is a description of each carrier and the abovedescribedarrangements at each end plate coact with other means in the sterilizingmachine as later described.

The machine includes an endless agitating chain 54 (see FIG. I), whichserves to rotate the carriers 29 and agitate the contents of the cans.The agitating chain 54 may move in the same or opposite direction as theconveying chains 28. The agitating chain 54 is engaged by the l6-toothedplates 43 of the carriers 29 to rotate the carriers 29 in the bearings44. The agitating chain 54 extends from approximately the inlet of thefirst water let 22 at the top of the machine to the bottom outlet of thespray leg 25 at the bottom of the machine. The carriers 29 crash engageonto the agitating chain 54. A tensioning arrangement 55 is provided forthe agitating chain 54.

A means is provided to ensure that the carriers are disposed at thecorrect orientation or attitude before entering the unloading ordischarging and loading zones. The correct orientation for the carriers29, is, of course, to present them with their axial slots 35 adjacent tothe conveyors 30 and 31. This means is disposed above the entry to thedischarging stations 21, 31 at location A. (FIG. I) and cooperates withthe follower roller 52 and T-projection 53 on the carrier end plate. Itis to be noted that each carrier 29 is disposed at the correct attitudewhen it enters the unloading/loading zones 21 with its follower roller52 trailing.

The carrier-orientating means (see FIGS. 8 to comprises a substantiallyU-shaped guide track 56 fixedly secured to the housing or other part ofthe framework of the machine and extending from location A before thefirst discharging station 21, 31 to a location B after the last loadingstation 21, 31. The track 56 has a flared inlet 57 defined by twoslightly resiliently pivoted plates 58 and 58A. Below and spaced fromthe plate 58 is a track member 59 which is thereafter continuous tolocation B. This plate 58 and track member 59 define a camming slot orrecess 60. A track member 61 is located immediately below the otherplate 58A and is also continuous to location B.

A projection or abutment 62 is connected to the plate 58 above thecamming slot 60.

Reference is now made particularly to FIGS. 8 and 9 which show a carrier29 entering the guide track 56 correctly orientated. In this case thefollower roller 52 simply runs along the guide track 56 maintaining thecarrier 29 in the correct attitude during unloading and loading.

In FIG. 10, there is shown a carrier 29 entering the guide trackincorrectly orientated, i.e., the follower roller 52 leading instead oftrailing. In this case, the abutment 53 strikes the abutment 62 causingthe carrier 29 to rotate (see arrow C) so that the follower roller 52enters the camming slot 60 and due to chain movement the carrier 29pivots further about the follower roller 52 (see arrow D) until itsattitude is such that the follower roller 52 takes up the desiredtrailing position. Thus, the carrier 29 is correctly orientated.-

The flared mouth 57 of the track 56 assists in adjusting the carrier 29on entering the track 56 For example, if the carrier enters with thefollower roller 52 at say 3 o'clock, the follower roller 52 will strikethe adjacent plate 58A and be urged to the desired trailing position.

Other guide and cam arrangements may be employed to effect carrierattitude correction but the above arrangement which is simple, positiveand effective is preferred.

A baffle 63 (FIG. 2) is connected between the conveying chains 28between adjacent carriers 29, each baffle 63 may be carried by the samelink of chain as the leading carrier of the two carriers between whichit is located although this is not essential. The baffles 63 act tocompensate for convection currents within the machine and are shaped toprovide downwardly extending runways 64 for the cans at the dischargingstations although again this is not essential. The baffles 63 also actas bars to maintain the distance between the two conveying chains 28.

In use, therefore, sticks of cans supported by the carriers 29 passthrough the closed circuit of water, steam and spray legs and arecontinuously rotated by the agitating chain 54.

After disengagement from the agitating chain 54 and before entry to thedischarging and loading zone 21, the carriers 29 have their orientationor attitude corrected, if required, as aforesaid and the correctorientation or attitude maintained.

When each carrier 29 is correctly orientated and as it approaches thefirst discharging station, its beam 33 and shell 34 are so relativelylocated that the axial slot 35 is not in register with a can-holdingspace or pocket 36. It is therefore necessary to effect suchregistration before a stick of cans can be discharged. This is effectedby a releasing and indexing mechanism (see FIG. 11) which acts on thepawl lever 47 and pegs 46 and the toothed wheel 44, 45 (FIGS. 5 and 6).This mechanism releases the lock between the beam and shell, holds theshell stationary and rotates the beam through 45 bringing a space orpocket 36 into register with the axial slot 35. At the following threedischarging stations a similar mechanism is provided (the onlydifference is the shape of the cam of the mechanism as mentionedhereafter) and at each of the other three discharging stations the beamis rotated through to register the three other pockets in turn with theaxial slot. The carrier is then moved to the first (bottom) loadingstation still with a pocket in register with the axial slot and isloaded with a stick of cans. At the following three loading stations thebeam is each time rotated through 90 to present the other pockets forloading and thereafter the beam is indexed through 45 to take the axialslot out of registerwith any of the pockets. This indexing is effectedby a mechanism as shown in FIG. 11 save that the cans are reversed(turned through Each releasing and indexing mechanism (FIG. 11)comprises essentially a fixed position cam plate 65 (45 or 90) and anindexing lever 66 with a roller or lateral projection 67 at one end forengaging the toothed wheel 44. The lever is pivotally mounted and isurged towards the toothed wheels 44 of the carriers 29 by a fluid ram68. This lever 66 is supported in a resiliently mounted bracket-formingpart of an arrangement such that if, for example, a can jams the fluidram 68 is released to disengage the indexing roller 67 from the toothedwheel and the machine is simultaneously stopped.

At each station there is pivotal gate 69 connected via a lever 70 androtatable spindle 71 with another fluid ram 72. On operation of the ram72 the gate is pivoted to allow a stick of cans to leave a beam pocketand roll on to a conveyor 31.

In operation, the cam plate 65 acts on the tail 5 of the pawl lever 47to disengage the latter from a peg 46 against the action of the spring51 and linear movement of the carrier 29 causes the toothed wheel 44, 45and the indexing roller 67 to engage and depending on the nature of thecam 65 (45 or 90) the beam is rotated a distance equal to two or fourteeth of the toothed wheel 44, 45, movement of the shell 34 beingprevented by the follower roller 52 engaging in the guide track 56.After unloading the carrier passes the cam plate 65 and the pawl lever47 reengages a peg 46 of the toothed wheel 44, 45 until the nextreleasing and indexing mechanism is reached.

Instead of cam plates 65 it may be possible to employ short endlesschains, driven or not.

It is to be noted that the carriers are unloaded or discharged as theyare bodily moved downwards and loaded or charged as they are bodilymoved upwards. This prevents crosscontamination.

It is also to be noted that, due to the construction of the carrierattitude correction means, the can stick accommodation space of eachcarrier first discharged is also the first to be loaded. This isimportant if different sizes of cans are being processed together. i

We claim 1. In a sterilizing-cooking apparatus handling cans arrangedend to end to form can sticks, a carrier for supporting and conveyingcan sticks, comprising a beam having four longitudinal pockets adaptedto accommodate four angularly spaced can sticks; a selectivelyperforated shell around the beam and with an axial slot serving as aninlet and outlet for the cans of the can sticks, the shell also havingan end plate at each of its ends; and a spindle secured at each end ofthe beam and extending rotatably through a respective said end plate, sothat the beam and the shell are relatively rotatable between a positionin which the can sticks cannot leave or enter the longitudinal pocketsand a position where the can sticks can leave or enter the longitudinalpockets, wherein each said pocket is asymmetric in cross sectionproviding a relatively flat runout side and a relatively arcuatereceiving side for the cans.

12 In or for a sterilizing apparatus handling cans to be sterilized,which are arranged end to end forming can sticks, a conveying mechanismcomprising a series of carriers supported between a pair of endlessconveying chains and each carrier comprising a beam adapted toaccommodate a plurality of angularly spaced can sticks; a shellsurrounding the beam save for an axial slot which serves as an inlet andoutlet for the cans of the can sticks, the beam and shell beingrelatively rotatable between a position in which the can sticks cannotenter or leave the beam accommodation and a position in which the cansticks can be loaded into or discharged out of the beam accommodation; acircular series of pegs on a toothed wheel fastened with and at an endof each said beam; releasable locking means between each carrier shelland associated beam in the form ofa spring-loaded pivoted pawl lever onsaid carri er shell for engaging any of said pegs associated with therespective beam; and releasing and indexing means for acting on thelocking means at predetermined locations to permit relative rotationbetween each carrier shell and beam to allow unloading, loading andclosure of the carrier.

3. In or for a sterilizing apparatus, a conveying mechanism as claimedin claim 2, in which the releasing and indexing means is a cam adaptedto act on the pawl lever to disengage it from the pegs and an indexinglever adapted to engage the toothed wheel to rotate the carrier beam,means being provided to resist rotation of the carrier shell.

4. In or for a sterilizing apparatus handling cans to be sterilizedwhich are arranged end to end forming can sticks, the apparatus being ofthe type having carriers for the can sticks as well as loading andunloading stations for the cans, a means for correctly orienting acarrier relative to the loading and unloading stations, the meanscomprising cam or guide means for contacting the carrier to rotate it tothe desired orientation and further means for maintaining the carrier inits orientation, said guide means including a guide track on astationary part of the apparatus, a stationary abutment adjacent to andexternal of the track, a follower on an end of the carrier for passagealong the track in a selected position on the carrier when the latter iscorrectly oriented, and an abutment of said carrier end at a positlonangularly spaced from the follower and adapted to contact the stationaryabutment ifthe carrier is incorrectly oriented relative to the loadingand unloading stations to rotate the carrier through the intermediary ofa cam surface of the track to a correct orientation.

5. In or for a sterilizing apparatus, a carrier orientating means asclaimed in claim 4, in which the entry to the track is defined by twopivoted resiliently mounted plates such that the entry is converging.

1. In a sterilizing-cooking apparatus handling cans arranged end to endto form can sticks, a carrier for supporting and conveying can sticks,comprising a beam having four longitudinal pockets adapted toaccommodate four angularly spaced can sticks; a selectively perforatedshell around the beam and with an axial slot serving as an inlet andoutlet for the cans of the can sticks, the shell also having an endplate at each of its ends; and a spindle secured at each end of the beamand extending rotatably through a respective said end plate, so that thebeam and the shell are relatively rotatable between a position in whichthe can sticks cannot leave or enter the longitudinal pockets and aposition where the can sticks can leave or enter the longitudinalpockets, wherein each said pocket is asymmetric in cRoss sectionproviding a relatively flat runout side and a relatively arcuatereceiving side for the cans. CM,12For a sterilizing apparatus handlingcans to be sterilized, which are arranged end to end forming can sticks,a conveying mechanism comprising a series of carriers supported betweena pair of endless conveying chains and each carrier comprising a beamadapted to accommodate a plurality of angularly spaced can sticks; ashell surrounding the beam save for an axial slot which serves as aninlet and outlet for the cans of the can sticks, the beam and shellbeing relatively rotatable between a position in which the can stickscannot enter or leave the beam accommodation and a position in which thecan sticks can be loaded into or discharged out of the beamaccommodation; a circular series of pegs on a toothed wheel fastenedwith and at an end of each said beam; releasable locking means betweeneach carrier shell and associated beam in the form of a spring-loadedpivoted pawl lever on said carrier shell for engaging any of said pegsassociated with the respective beam; and releasing and indexing meansfor acting on the locking means at predetermined locations to permitrelative rotation between each carrier shell and beam to allowunloading, loading and closure of the carrier.
 3. In or for asterilizing apparatus, a conveying mechanism as claimed in claim 2, inwhich the releasing and indexing means is a cam adapted to act on thepawl lever to disengage it from the pegs and an indexing lever adaptedto engage the toothed wheel to rotate the carrier beam, means beingprovided to resist rotation of the carrier shell.
 4. In or for asterilizing apparatus handling cans to be sterilized which are arrangedend to end forming can sticks, the apparatus being of the type havingcarriers for the can sticks as well as loading and unloading stationsfor the cans, a means for correctly orienting a carrier relative to theloading and unloading stations, the means comprising cam or guide meansfor contacting the carrier to rotate it to the desired orientation andfurther means for maintaining the carrier in its orientation, said guidemeans including a guide track on a stationary part of the apparatus, astationary abutment adjacent to and external of the track, a follower onan end of the carrier for passage along the track in a selected positionon the carrier when the latter is correctly oriented, and an abutment ofsaid carrier end at a position angularly spaced from the follower andadapted to contact the stationary abutment if the carrier is incorrectlyoriented relative to the loading and unloading stations to rotate thecarrier through the intermediary of a cam surface of the track to acorrect orientation.
 5. In or for a sterilizing apparatus, a carrierorientating means as claimed in claim 4, in which the entry to the trackis defined by two pivoted resiliently mounted plates such that the entryis converging.